29 Replies - 5851 Views - Last Post: 19 September 2011 - 09:47 AM

This doesn't fit into any category...But...

This post doesn't really fit into any other forum, so I posted it here. But here's the question...

What is the best programming language to start out with for a beginner?

I am new to programming in general but I have been building WebSites (Then throwing them out so to speak), for about 3 years now. I just never thought I would need to learn it, but over time I have realized why I trash my WebSite's... I don't have a purpose to make one. I Have made about 6 dozen websites, (That means the whole nine yards with articles and everything), but I had no purpose in mind. Now I am thinking about building my own text editor so I have a purpose to put my site up. I mean when i got into High School last year and took Web Development, I was correcting the teacher for mistakes she was making, but now I feel it is going to be the other way around...

WoW, Just did a whole life story didn't I...

Well any way, I would appreciate a couple peoples input on my main question...

Re: This doesn't fit into any category...But...

My first language was BASIC. I enjoyed it a lot and consider it a great first language.

Really? It's procedural, has crappy syntax, and isn't very common anymore. I would say that's a horrible first language at this point in time.

Basic became Visual Basic. The description still fits. But if grandma wants to learn how to program, & has no desire (or more importantly has no need) to learn more than Visual Basic, then grandma should learn Visual Basic.

Re: This doesn't fit into any category...But...

Posted 08 September 2009 - 08:03 PM

i started with Java, and i actually think its a pretty good first language..I also think that python would be another good language to start with.. python is pretty powerful and has an extremely easy syntax to learn

Re: This doesn't fit into any category...But...

Posted 08 September 2009 - 08:19 PM

Sorry, let me clarify a bit.

Neumann, on 8 Sep, 2009 - 06:56 PM, said:

Elaborate as to why the procedural paradigm is a bad choice for a first language.

Most schools are starting by teaching OOP languages and to my understanding, OOP is currently the most used structure for application programming. Obviously there are exceptions but I also believe that new programmers should start by learning OOP and then learn a procedural language if they wish.

Quote

It has a clear, and self-explanatory syntax that can be easily understood by the newcomers. See, I can insert meaningless personal opinions too.

I'll admit that was ah...opinionated

Quote

Name a single reason why the popularity of the language should be a factor here

Why would you want to learn a language that is outdated and not often found in newer programs as your first language? Down the line, sure. Knock yourself out. I'm assuming you learned BASIC when it was the high-level alternative to C since you say it was your first language. If it was, support was more widely available back then and OOP was not as mainstream as it is now. I think it makes more sense to learn one of the more mainstream high-level languages, such as Java or C#, as your first because you will probably find support more easily and you will hopefully be able to apply it successfully in your professional life if you choose to pursue an IT field, or even just as a hobby.

Just sharing my thoughts with him, didn't mean to offend you.

Edit: If you meant Visual Basic and not just BASIC, I'll take that back and say consider it as well. I'm personally not a fan of it but tons of people are and it is a very widely used language.

Re: This doesn't fit into any category...But...

Posted 08 September 2009 - 08:51 PM

There's a widely held belief that one should learn how to be a straight C programmer before doing OOP with C++. that is certainly up for debate, but good ol' procedural programming has its place among side fancy OOP.

Re: This doesn't fit into any category...But...

Posted 09 September 2009 - 12:08 AM

@xCraftyx && Neumann

Tons of kids learn to program Ti BASIC which is just a calculator form of BASIC with many syntactical tweaks. It is even so easy that someone that has never touched a line of code before can write a hello world with no one telling the how to.

on this basis I would say that Ti BASIC could be an alright language to start off on, procedural or not it can teach what it means to write a program as well as some of the basics of programming.

Re: This doesn't fit into any category...But...

Posted 09 September 2009 - 12:43 AM

Programming on a TI calculator is a damn nightmare, I would never put someone through that.

I also learned to program with a form of BASIC, I don't believe it was that bad. Its easy and teaches you programming, I'm certainly not handicapped from it. There are also a lot of off cases that use BASIC such as calculators and programmable robots, its not completely outdated.